{"title":"Hepatokines and MASLD: The GLP1-Ras-FGF21-Fetuin-A Crosstalk as a Therapeutic Target.","authors":"Ilaria Milani, Michela Codini, Gloria Guarisco, Marianna Chinucci, Chiara Gaita, Frida Leonetti, Danila Capoccia","doi":"10.3390/ijms251910795","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The introduction of the term \"Metabolic Steatotic Liver Disease\" (MASLD) underscores the critical role of metabolic dysfunction in the development and progression of chronic liver disease and emphasizes the need for strategies that address both liver disease and its metabolic comorbidities. In recent years, a liver-focused perspective has revealed that altered endocrine function of the fatty liver is a key contributor to the metabolic dysregulation observed in MASLD. Due to its secretory capacity, the liver's increased production of proteins known as \"hepatokines\" has been linked to the development of insulin resistance, explaining why MASLD often precedes dysfunction in other organs and ultimately contributes to systemic metabolic disease. Among these hepatokines, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and fetuin-A play central roles in regulating the metabolic abnormalities associated with MASLD, explaining why their dysregulated secretion in response to metabolic stress has been implicated in the metabolic abnormalities of MASLD. This review postulates why their modulation by GLP1-Ras may mediate the beneficial metabolic effects of these drugs, which have increased attention to their emerging role as pharmacotherapy for MASLD. By discussing the crosstalk between GLP1-Ras-FGF21-fetuin-A, this review hypothesizes that the possible modulation of fetuin-A by the novel GLP1-FGF21 dual agonist pharmacotherapy may contribute to the management of metabolic and liver diseases. Although research is needed to go into the details of this crosstalk, this topic may help researchers explore the mechanisms by which this type of pharmacotherapy may manage the metabolic dysfunction of MASLD.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11477334/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms251910795","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The introduction of the term "Metabolic Steatotic Liver Disease" (MASLD) underscores the critical role of metabolic dysfunction in the development and progression of chronic liver disease and emphasizes the need for strategies that address both liver disease and its metabolic comorbidities. In recent years, a liver-focused perspective has revealed that altered endocrine function of the fatty liver is a key contributor to the metabolic dysregulation observed in MASLD. Due to its secretory capacity, the liver's increased production of proteins known as "hepatokines" has been linked to the development of insulin resistance, explaining why MASLD often precedes dysfunction in other organs and ultimately contributes to systemic metabolic disease. Among these hepatokines, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and fetuin-A play central roles in regulating the metabolic abnormalities associated with MASLD, explaining why their dysregulated secretion in response to metabolic stress has been implicated in the metabolic abnormalities of MASLD. This review postulates why their modulation by GLP1-Ras may mediate the beneficial metabolic effects of these drugs, which have increased attention to their emerging role as pharmacotherapy for MASLD. By discussing the crosstalk between GLP1-Ras-FGF21-fetuin-A, this review hypothesizes that the possible modulation of fetuin-A by the novel GLP1-FGF21 dual agonist pharmacotherapy may contribute to the management of metabolic and liver diseases. Although research is needed to go into the details of this crosstalk, this topic may help researchers explore the mechanisms by which this type of pharmacotherapy may manage the metabolic dysfunction of MASLD.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067) provides an advanced forum for chemistry, molecular physics (chemical physics and physical chemistry) and molecular biology. It publishes research articles, reviews, communications and short notes. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their theoretical and experimental results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on the length of the papers or the number of electronics supplementary files. For articles with computational results, the full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Electronic files regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material (including animated pictures, videos, interactive Excel sheets, software executables and others).